I would rather see Matsumoto and Patrick Maroon … ESPECIALLY Maroon. He’s a giant kid with a decent scoring touch and a bit of physical play to his game. Ross and Nodl have had their chances to make the team, now give Matsumoto and Maroon their chances. Look what happened when they called up Bartulis for the first time!

My first thought was to look at cap numbers, but no salary considerations appear to have been involved in the decision.

Nodl – $850k
Matsumoto – $600k
Maroon – $528k
Ross – $500k

I’d guess they feel like these guys have some chemistry after playing last season?

My guess is based on how they plan to reshuffle the lines, calling up a right winger (Nodl) made more sense than a left winger (Maroon). And for what it’s worth, Ross has proven that he can be a decent fill-in fourth line center.

I’ll give you more on each of these guys tonight. My computer at work is doing some screwy things when it comes to putting an article out. I also was surprised by the names. Ross is an underperforming captain, and I was shocked to see him get the call up. He plays bigger than his size, but seemed to be a little man in a big man games this year.
Nodl would have not surprised earlier in the season, but as of late has fallen off. He started as 4th line guy on opening night, played very physical and has been moved all around the line-up since. As of late he had appeaered to have been in Gilbert’s dog house and not seeing much ice time.

Another consideration in this decision on who to call up:

If Ross or Nodl catch fire they could be trade bait to a younger team like the Isles in return for a veteran checking forward or 3rd pair dman.

Sort of like the Patrick Sharp trade years ago, Ross or Nodl could be seen as a guy with promise and given the chance to develop on a growing team (think Isles).